Week of April 27-May 1

Hey there, kiddos!

Can you believe it's almost May? And now it's Week 2 of our online Technology activities together.
This is so different than being in the classroom! I sure do miss  walking around the room and talking with you throughout our Technology class time together. I hope you are all doing great and getting into new routines at home. We will have SO MUCH to talk about when we get back together next school year!

For this week, I'd love to hear that you're following along with some keyboarding fun. Even our older grades are working on this skill this week, so you KNOW it's important!

Here are a few tips that we would normally practice together in class:

*Try to keep your pointer fingers find a rest on the F and the J.
*Try to keep your thumbs find a rest of the space bar.
*Remember that your other fingers line up on the middle row, starting with the letter A.
*Remember that the G and the H are empty, but your pointer fingers can reach out to tap them when needed.

Try these for practice:

Keyboarding Cup Stacking

Keyboard Zoo

Keyboard Zoo 2

Typing Rocket Junior

Typing Rocket (2nd Grade)

Keyboard Invasion (2nd Grade)

Have fun, and let me know how you did!

Week of April 20-24

Hello, Kindergarten through 2nd grade friends! I have been missing you SO MUCH! I hope you are all doing well, loving on your families, and getting outside to play often. You know that I love Technology, but our beautiful world outside is blooming and growing so much this month, so OUTSIDE is where much of my time is being spent. I sure hope you're out there enjoying it every chance you get!

I know that you all have school work to complete from your classroom teachers, so I am going to use this blog to share some fun "extra" activities that you can do on the days that aren't quite as warm and sunny as we'd like. You might also hop on your computer for a while in the evening, after that beautiful sun has gone to sleep. But please...remember to SOAK UP THAT SUN when you can! 🌻

Now, how fitting is it that our first week of online learning together is the week in which Earth Day is? Have you heard of Earth Day? We can celebrate this special day in lots of different ways. We can pick up litter, plant a tree, or simply enjoy nature. Here are a few of my Earth Day challenges to you. Pick one, two, or even all of them. Just be sure to have fun doing them!

Challenge #1: Lie down outside and look at the grass and earth. Watch what happens. What do you notice? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you see? What do you feel? I love doing this! I almost always spot an ant or other tiny bug working away. It's so cool to watch!

Challenge #2: Go to one of our favorites, Starfall, and enjoy the Earth Day activity (Here).

Challenge #3: Go for a walk with your family. When you get home, talk about what you noticed on your walk. What was your favorite part?

Challenge #4: Use StoryMaker on Abcya.com (it's free on a computer or browser, but it costs money to download the app) to draw a picture and write a sentence, telling about your favorite Earth Day activity. 1st and 2nd graders, be sure to remember to use the Shift key for uppercase letters where they belong (beginning of names and sentences) and the period key at the end of each sentence. Also, just ONE space between each word and after a period. Kindergarten students have not yet learned this, but parents, you can show them! Parents, if you have a working printer, these make really nice printable papers for the fridge or a scrapbook.

I love and miss you all, and I hope these activities bring big smiles to your faces! I cannot WAIT to see you all again!

Much Love,
Ms. Cain